David Benioff and D.B. Weiss wanted to explore the origins of the Jedi Order in their cancelled 'Star Wars' movie.
D.B. Weiss and David Benioff were going to direct a Star Wars story
The former 'Game of Thrones' showrunners were announced in 2019 to be making a series of films in the space saga but ultimately stepped away, blaming their hectic schedules, and they've now shed some light on the first installment of their planned project.
Benioff told The Hollywood Reporter: “We wanted to do 'The First Jedi'. Basically how the Jedi Order came to be, why it came to be, the first lightsaber …”
Their involvement was announced before the final installment of the main 'Star Wars' saga was released and they joked they were "annoyed as hell" when their friend Rian Johnson revealed 'Episode IX', which he directed, would be called 'The Last Jedi'.
Weiss added: "And we were annoyed as hell when [Rian] called his movie 'The Last Jedi'. He completely destroyed the obvious title for what we were working on.”
Although they cited their schedules at the time, the writer-producer duo admitted Lucasfilm simply didn't want to run with their "very specific" idea.
Asked what went wrong, Benioff said: "[Lucasfilm] ended up not wanting to do a First Jedi story.
"We had a very specific story idea in mind, and ultimately they decided they didn’t want to do that. And we totally get it. It’s their company and their IP, but we weren’t the droids they were looking for.”
When the duo announced they had stepped away from their planned saga, they admitted they had done so with regret, but simply didn't have enough time to devote to the project.
In a statement, the pair said: "We love 'Star Wars'. When George Lucas built it, he built us too.
"Getting to talk about 'Star Wars' with him and the current Star Wars team was the thrill of a lifetime, and we will always be indebted to the saga that changed everything.
"But there are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do justice to both 'Star Wars' and our Netflix projects. So we are regretfully stepping away."
Meanwhile, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy heaped praise on Benioff and Weiss, while insisting the studio would welcome them back in the future.
She added: "David Benioff and Dan Weiss are incredible storytellers. We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on 'Star Wars.' "
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